March 10, 2011

Humber, in turn, hopes the new cutter he worked on Thursday will help him earn that seventh and final bullpen slot among the White Sox staff. Prior to the contest, Humber told Thursday batterymate Tyler Flowers that he wanted to focus on this particular pitch.

“Most of the ones I threw were good,” said Humber, who started the split-squad contest, with Gavin Floyd starting Thursday night against the D-backs. “I got some weak contact on it and that also helped my two-seamer running back the other way.

“It was good for me to see. It’s going to be a pitch I’m probably going to use. It was positive today for sure.”

The Rangers’ Mike Napoli had his bat shattered by Humber on a pitch with one out in the second, but Humber said it was the two-seamer producing that damage.

“Like I said, they complement each other,” said Humber, who has been getting help with the cutter from bullpen coach Juan Nieves and picking the brains of other pitchers. “You get guys leaning out and that ball runs back in on them.

“Now it’s a matter of knowing when to use it in the game and being confident it will do what it needs to do,” Humber added.

Said Guillen: “All spring he’s the only one guy who has stepped it up. So far, he’s pitched well. I said a couple of days ago that nobody has impressed me at all. This kid came out and threw the ball well against a pretty good hitting team. It’s very nice and pleasant to see that because we continue to look for somebody for the reliever spot or just in case Jake can’t be on the team. We’re looking for that type of guy and he’s throwing the ball well. He’s moving forward. He took a big step, a huge step today. Hopefully in the next couple of starts he continues to do it.”

Dayan Viciedo suffered a fractured right thumb when he was hit by a David Bush pitch in the eighth inning of a 7-6 victory over the Rangers. Viciedo went down to the ground on impact and stayed there briefly until White Sox assistant athletic trainer Brian Ball came out to check on him.

Viciedo moved to a seated position and then got up and left the field, even joking with manager Ozzie Guillen as they reached the dugout. But the news wasn’t very humorous after an X-ray at the ballpark showed the injury, leaving the right fielder on the sideline for an expected three to four weeks.